do you take movies that carry important messages seriously? i watched american history x last night. it was rather brutal. it was hard viewing, definitely. hard to take, hard to handle, but i couldn't keep my eyes of it. first, let's just stuff all the praise and the critical acclaim it got. let's just look at the message that it brings. from my perspective, it was showing that tolerance and understanding should be preached and practiced, but there'd be those who'd always be unwilling to open their minds. something along those lines. and it's true, isn't it? the movie is about a former skinhead who gets out of prison and who tries to reform his younger brother, who's going down his former path. the movie is violent, gritty, and no holds barred for sure. but it being a movie, should we take it seriously? is entertainment meant to make us think? in today's world, where aggression is probably a commodity on television, it's hard to say.

i really liked american history x. at the same time, i had trouble grasping the fact that we, as people, should have taken it seriously. i know some who haven't; they basically glorified the skinhead part of the show as opposed to the reformation of our protaganist. why? it's entertainment. there're no two ways about looking at it. it tried to offer us a perspective on real life, on how things really are, but in the end, it's all found on a roll of celluloid. most people who probably be distanced from what goes on. the media tends to glorify the negative and ignore the positive, and that leaves us with nothing but the picture of typical cliches, such as how white people who feel oppresed automatically turn to a life of delinquency and how most black people are "gangstas" by default. it's rather annoying. but there's really nothing that we can do about it.

so, are we meant to take it all seriously? i guess all we need is a pinch of salt.